Materials used for cat litter vary significantly in weight but are generally used by volume. There are several lightweight mineral-based litters available on the market today. Some of them are physical blends of clumping clays and non-clumping clays or similar minerals, some are agglomerated clumping clay and non-clumping mixtures, and others are non-clumping clays (or other mineral blends) blended with clumping additives. There is also a small segment of the cat litter category that consists of clumping alternative litters that often contain non-clay materials such as: crystals, wood chips, paper, grain, nut shells, etc. and gelling agents to provide clumping. Desirable characteristics of cat litter includes its acceptability to cats as a litter, lack of degradation, and that it is itself not a food source for bacteria or fungi that may be introduced by urine or feces into the cat box. Additionally, the cat litter needs to be safe and effective for use in residential environments. Finally, a satisfactory litter must have sufficient density not to stick easily to cat fur or leave the cat box due to activity in or near the box (“tracking”).
Clay litters have been known to offer superior performance over alternative litters due to unique properties including absorption, the lack of presence of a food source for bacteria or fungi, larger surface area and porosity. Sodium bentonite based litters have been very popular due to the natural clumping properties of sodium bentonite. Non-clumping clays are often significantly lighter in weight than sodium bentonite but require an addition of clumping additive to provide adequate clump strength in scoopable litter formulations. The clumping additive is typically present in a form of a fine powder that is dry-blended with litter particles. The clumping additive tends to segregate from larger particles and creates high dust levels during pouring or scooping. Due to a non-uniform distribution of the clumping additive, the clumps vary in strength and tend to break easily.
Citation or identification of any document in this application is not an admission that such document is available as prior art to the present invention.